Active Citizens and Passive Learning: A Qualitative Study of Students' Perspectives on Citizenship Education across England and Wales
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| Title: | Active Citizens and Passive Learning: A Qualitative Study of Students' Perspectives on Citizenship Education across England and Wales |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Eleni Andreouli (ORCID |
| Source: | Youth & Society. 2026 58(1):152-175. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 24 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Education Grade 7 Junior High Schools Middle Schools Secondary Education Grade 8 Grade 9 High Schools Grade 10 |
| Descriptors: | Student Attitudes, Citizenship Education, Foreign Countries, Student Experience, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10, Political Attitudes, Youth, Secondary School Students |
| Geographic Terms: | United Kingdom (England), United Kingdom (Wales) |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0044118X251377333 |
| ISSN: | 0044-118X 1552-8499 |
| Abstract: | Across the UK there has been a steady, but rising, concern over young people's political engagement. Citizenship education (CE) is one policy response to this lack of engagement, seeking to mould young people's transition to full citizenship according to prevailing values and ideals of citizenship. In this paper, we examine CE in England and Wales reporting on the findings of twenty focus groups with secondary school students across ten schools. We identified four representations in how students represented good citizenship: communitarian; civic; transactional; and rights-based citizenship. We also found, across our focus groups, a clear preference for practice-based teaching that connects abstract ideas around citizenship into lived experience--which students missed in actual CE practice. In the discussion of the paper, we draw on these findings to make recommendations for future CE provision in the UK and more broadly. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1493917 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Across the UK there has been a steady, but rising, concern over young people's political engagement. Citizenship education (CE) is one policy response to this lack of engagement, seeking to mould young people's transition to full citizenship according to prevailing values and ideals of citizenship. In this paper, we examine CE in England and Wales reporting on the findings of twenty focus groups with secondary school students across ten schools. We identified four representations in how students represented good citizenship: communitarian; civic; transactional; and rights-based citizenship. We also found, across our focus groups, a clear preference for practice-based teaching that connects abstract ideas around citizenship into lived experience--which students missed in actual CE practice. In the discussion of the paper, we draw on these findings to make recommendations for future CE provision in the UK and more broadly. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0044-118X 1552-8499 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0044118X251377333 |
